


Emerald Blossom

by velocity_raptorr



Series: Unrequited [1]
Category: Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Boulder is a smol bean, Brotherly Bonding, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hologram Avatars, Human Avatars, Human-formers, Insomnia, Light-Hearted, M/M, Movie Night, Protectiveness, Rain, Rainy Days, Robot/Human Relationships, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Surfing, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Xeno, Xenophilia, annnd doc made another one oh boy, chase can surf like a boss somehow, hand holding, my headcannons are weird, no questions please, the bots trying to Earth and failing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-08 06:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11640834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velocity_raptorr/pseuds/velocity_raptorr
Summary: This work is dedicated to our first discredited soul, Boulder, who the world would be gray without.Boulder does some late-night thinking about his teammates' roles in their mission, and he can't, for the life of him, figure out what his is.





	1. Purpose

**Author's Note:**

> *jerks awake in the middle of the night with an burning need to get my ideas down on paper and ends up filling 11 pages of my notebook*
> 
> This is an idea that I've had for a while now and I finally figured out how to write it! I've always compared these adorable little mechies to elements and things in nature but when I really got to thinking about it I realized how they all kinda pull each other together in a way, and this got really deep when I realized that they wouldn't be the team they are without any one of them.  
> Anyway just a warning that this got pretty intense XD I was reading back over it and was like whoa that's a spiritual work of scrap right there

Boulder didn't usually have this much on his mind, but for some reason all he could think about was the time the team had spent in stasis. How much they'd missed. And it wasn't even the war that was keeping him awake, it was the time they'd spent apart from each other. 

When Optimus had first assigned them together, tensions had run high almost instantly. Boulder remembered with a slight chuckle how they had completely bombed their first mission, recalling how inexperienced and out of tune they'd been. But a million years trapped in the tight cockpit of the _Vector Sigma_ together had forced them to get to know each other, and eventually they had. In order for any team to be successful, every member had to be able to understand the others as well as they understood themselves, and that was exactly what they had. 

Well, they did. For a while at least. Then they had to go into stasis because of the Energon Eater, and that was how it would stay for four million years until they arrived on Earth. Those first few steps into that foreign world which they now called home were more than just trying to figure out what the frag they'd missed and where the scrap they were, it was getting back in tune with each other. The shock of stepping out of that ship into unknown territory with three of your best friends that you haven't talked to in millions of years--it was a little overwhelming.

But Boulder quickly discovered that reading his teammates was like second nature, despite being locked in separate pods and not even seeing them for what felt like an eternity (and it kind of was--four million years is a long time, even for Cybertronians). He realized that the bond they had formed in that Primus-forsaken ship was more than what the humans liked to call family, and it wasn't about to disappear because of a little time apart. He tried to explain to Graham what it felt like once, and the engineer, smart as he was, hadn't even begun to understand what he was talking about. Boulder guessed that humans just didn't have that level of trust--the feeling right in between brotherhood and love. That was the best way he could describe it.

Heatwave had always been their rock. Someone stronger to cling to when life got too hard--a giant, stubborn boulder full of cracks and crevices that refused to budge no matter what you hit it with. Because truth was, Heatwave had seen the most out of all of them. Chase was probably around the same age, maybe a little older, and the whole team knew Chase had seen more than a few horrors in his lifetime, but he absolutely refused to talk about the war. Heatwave was different. He had the courage to talk about what he'd seen, and much more emotion than Chase. He had always been the one to launch himself in the direct path of danger to protect his team, even if it meant risking his own life to do so. In many ways, he was the strongest, and Boulder was grateful for that. They all were. There wasn't a time Boulder could remember not going to Heatwave for comfort, and he was sure the others would agree with him. There was just something about the mech that made you feel safer. He truly did live up to his name, and not just because of his fiery temper. He really did care, but his pride refused to let him show it. But on those rare times when he let down his walls for a minute or two, you really could tell how much he loved his family, human and bot alike. Because when Heatwave felt, he felt with his all. No exceptions.

If Heatwave was a rock, then Chase was a river. A powerful, calm, patient river that wound around them, with one current that flowed it one persistent direction--their mission. If anybot failed to remember exactly why Optimus had sent them here, Chase was all too happy to remind them. The policebot lived by a firm set of laws and he stubbornly followed them to every minor detail without fail; and on the rare occasion he did break one, he beat himself up for it until he felt he had received a suitable punishment.  


In other ways, Chase was also a rock. Heatwave wasn't always a level-headed, strong, confident leader, and despite his “tough guy” façade, they'd all see him crumble under the weight on his shoulders more than once. Chase was always the one who stepped up to the plate and helped him through those times. Heatwave needed Chase for many reasons, and he knew it; he just had his own way of expressing it. Chase was the rock’s rock for when it tried to carry too much of the world on its shoulders, and he was the river that calmed the team’s fires. Without Chase to balance Heatwave, Boulder doubted they would have lasted this long. 

Another thing he--actually, not just he, but the whole team--took for granted was Blades. If Chase’s lack of emotion created any sort of rift between them, Blades filled it right back up with his endless happiness. The rotary was blissfully innocent, and they all babied him; though some were more discreet about it than others. And to be blatantly honest, all three of them desperately needed Blades’ light in their lives. Heatwave, because of the tangled knot of emotions in his conscience that constantly threatened to overwhelm him; Chase, because of his seeming lack of emotion; and Boulder, because Blades’ joyful, energetic demeanor was always enough to lift his spark from the dark places it liked to settle in.

That left Boulder.

He honestly didn't know what his purpose was. He vaguely remembered Blades saying something during one of their more perilous emergencies about there being a reason Rescue Bots came in sets of four, but at the time Boulder had been trying to keep a berserk scrapmaster from tearing Chase’s leg off, so he hadn't really stopped to think about it. Now that he was, it made sense, but at the same time, it didn't. Heatwave was their rock, Chase was their river and Blades was their light, so what in the All Spark was he?

Boulder sighed, sitting up and rubbing his helm tiredly. Thinking so hard about something like this was starting to give him processor-rot. He checked his internal clock and nearly fell out of the berth when he saw the time. Had he really been pondering this for that long?! No wonder he had a headache!

The bulldozer groaned and shuffled down the hallway towards the bunker, hesitating a little when he recognized the soft glow of the TV illuminating part of the couch.

_Maybe Blades forgot to turn it off again._ Oh, well. If there was someone else up, which he sincerely doubted, he'd just grab some pillows and a bit of energon from the storage room and be gone before they even knew he was there.

Boulder immediately trashed that plan when he saw who was sitting there.

Not one, but all _three_ of his teammates were huddled together on the couch, watching one of Dani’s romantic comedies. Their optics were focused on the screen but their attention was clearly on each other, something Boulder found strangely endearing.  
Heatwave was sitting in the middle with one arm wrapped around a half-conscious Blades, who was steadily drifting into recharge on the firebot’s shoulder. Chase was seated a more respectable distance away, but Boulder could feel the affection in his field as he stole glances at the other two. 

“Having a movie marathon without me?” Boulder rumbled, trying to sound hurt but failing miserably. His teammates looked up at him. Well, two of them did, at least; Blades looked too tired to even try. 

Heatwave offered him a smile. Not one of his forced grins or triumphant smirks--a real, genuine smile. Boulder felt his spark contact in its chamber, something warm and wonderful spreading across his frame as he smiled back.

“Blades got scared over a horror movie and pulled us out here to ‘protect him’.” Heatwave rolled his eyes playfully. “Chase suggested a change in genre. You were already recharging, so….”

“Anything that doesn't involve hunting giant mutant zombie hamsters is fine by me.” Boulder chuckled, moving to sit beside Chase. As much as they all loved Blades, his childish fears could get more than a little annoying sometimes. The rotary stuck out his glossa and blew him a raspberry, but snuggled right back into Heatwave when the firebot tightened his hold on him. 

Boulder felt the warm feeling blossom in his chassis again when Chase mimicked them and gently nuzzled his shoulder. It couldn't even be called a nuzzle, really, it was more of Chase scooting close enough to allow their frames to brush. It still sent a shiver dancing up Boulder’s spinal strut, which was an odd but not entirely unwelcome sensation. He decided to roll with it and gently nudged Chase back, wrapping his EM field around the policebot almost possessively. Chase answered with just as much energy, sighing in contentment as he leaned his helm on Boulder's shoulder. If he hadn't known any better, Boulder could have said that Chase maybe even looked happy. But he knew better, and this was obviously just Chase relaxing (for once). At least he was in a good mood. 

In fact, all of his teammates seemed to be unusually calm tonight. Even Heatwave was letting his guard down enough to cuddle with Blades, and there wasn't really a cuter sight in Boulder’s opinion. It was nice, sharing a moment like this without being interrupted, and Boulder let the warm feelings that brought surround his team--no, they were more than that, he realized. They truly were his family.  


His brothers--Boulder could see the appeal of that term now--smiled back at him, letting their fields entwine and cradle each other like they were younglings again. It was the greatest feeling in the universe, knowing that they would always be there for him. For each other. 

So what if Boulder didn't have a purpose on the team? His teammates cared for him just the same. And as long as they wanted him there, he was there to stay.


	2. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boulder gets a rare chance to relax during a rainstorm. Heatwave decides to join him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was raining and it sounded so soothing and suddenly I thought: wow that's something Boulder would think too, what if he and Heatwave sat on the firehouse roof and watched the rain come down together 
> 
> Boulder deserves so much more love than he gets 
> 
> Which is why I'm making more of these
> 
> Because there can never be enough of these characters whyyy did the show have to ennnddddd gahhhhhh T/\T

Rain had always been the one thing that calmed Boulder down. 

It wasn't an entirely new prospect to him, but what fell from the sky on Cybertron had never been soothing--or even water, for that matter. It was always acid, something dangerous and terrifying, something that made you want to run to the nearest berth and cower until it was over.

Earth rain sounded different too. Acid made a sharp hissing noise as it seared it's way into the ground, but water trickled and dripped and spattered and ran, following the geometry of the roof instead of cutting straight through it.

Boulder didn't see why getting wet was such a huge issue with the humans. Kade he could understand--the fireman always seemed so caught up in his appearance, but Graham didn't seem like the type to care. Maybe it was the whole clothing thing. Not wearing or even owning clothes, Boulder had no idea what they felt like when they were wet. They probably stuck to you, and maybe that wasn't the best feeling in the world, but so what? Boulder would take the natural ASMR over heavy, wet clothing any day. Oh, well. At least it kept the humans inside. Less chances for trouble to strike, more down time for the team. 

Also, what was that distant booming noise? It almost sounded like the clouds were using sonic imaging on the sky, but softer and less electronic. It was amazing and it matched the rain perfectly. 

Actually, everything about this situation was perfect--the rain running down his back and pattering across the roof, the sky sonar rumbling over his head every few minutes, sitting peacefully on the firehouse roof with no emergencies to worry about. Boulder wished he could have more moments like this. In fact, the only thing that would make it better was if--

“Whatcha up too, Green Bean?” 

Boulder couldn't help but smile. Heatwave always did have a tendency to show up at just the right times. 

“Just watching the rain.” The bulldozer answered, shifting his attention to the firebot for a moment. The water fell onto Heatwave’s helmet, running down the grooves in the middle and dripping off the front. His crimson frame shone even under the dull blue-gray light of the clouds, freshly-buffed paint highlighted by the rain and dotting it with white light. Boulder let his optics wander for a little longer than he should have before he turned back to the roof, not trusting himself enough to say anything. 

“Kinda peaceful, isn't it?” Heatwave said, voicing Boulder’s thoughts for him as he took a seat beside his teammate. 

“That's why I'm out here,” the bulldozer answered, scooting back a little to lean against the wall of the small building that topped the firehouse. Heatwave moved with him, the large, fat drops of rain that rolled off the gutter spattering on the ground in front of them. 

“Oh, come on, we aren't _that_ annoying.” Heatwave chuckled, nudging Boulder playfully in an attempt to cut the tension between them. It worked, the mech in question smiling and laughing as Heatwave accidentally elbowed the wall instead of his intended target.

Both bots fell silent as the rain began to pour down harder, the metallic pattering it made of the roof creating soothing white noise for them to concentrate on. The sky sonar sounded like it was getting louder, clearly a result of the building storm. Boulder found himself wondering yet again how such inanimate, cuddly-looking balls of fluff and condensation could make such ominous noises. 

Suddenly a bright zig-zag of electricity zapped through the rain right in front of them, slicing through the sky before it disappeared seemingly into thin air. Heatwave put a protective servo in front of Boulder almost instinctively, growling deep in his intakes as another loud boom followed shortly after. 

Hm. Intriguing. The electricity must be what was causing the sky sonar. Boulder made a mental note to ask Graham about it later. He smiled and moved Heatwave’s servo, which was still in front of him, squeezing it gently to calm the firebot down. He sighed and loosened his stance, his plating shifting back into place from where it had been rising off his frame moments before in an effort to make himself look bigger. 

They relaxed back against the wall, only slightly startled this time when another zap shot across the sky and brought another rolling clap of sonar. Heatwave closed his optics and gently started tracing circles on the back of his teammates palm, and it was then that Boulder realized he hadn't let go of his hand yet.

The bulldozer tensed slightly--but not enough to be noticeable--and debated whether or not to pull his servo away. It had been so long since he'd had a moment like this with one of his teammates, especially Heatwave. Sure, he would comfort them behind closed doors all the time back on Cybertron, but still…..Boulder couldn't remember the last time he'd been this close to his leader, and it being this _intimate_. There was no way he was calling a stop to it, at least not yet.

Heatwave hadn't stopped rubbing his hand, and Boulder took it as an invitation to be as affectionate as he wanted. No one was around anyway, so he didn't see any reason not to be.

The bulldozer shimmed over, closing the space between himself and the firebot holding his servo and gently laid his head on Heatwave’s shoulder. The mech didn't even tense up; he just wrapped his arm around Boulder’s waist and held him there, entwining their fingers and squeezing his hand. 

Boulder grinned, feeling a thousand years of stasis fall off him like he was a rookie at the academy again, still trying to figure it out. Well, maybe that last part wasn't quite what he felt like, but at least he didn't have to worry about it anymore. In fact, he didn't have to worry about anything right now, and that was a change he wasn't about to pass up. Especially not when one of his teammates could share the moment with him. 

He had Heatwave for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh goddammit Bionic this is my secondary OTP now 
> 
> Kadewave and Heatshadow are still all powerful >:)
> 
> *accidentally starts shipping war*

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! Two months of hard work and rewriting and editing (and procrastinating) finally finished!
> 
>  
> 
> Chase/Boulder is next, in a Surfer AU >:)


End file.
